A Good One Shot for Newbies

Where new Keepers can ask "stupid" questions without fear of hazing.
Post Reply
tiamat
Freshman
Freshman
Posts:5
Joined:Mon Sep 01, 2014 2:07 am
Location:Melrose, MA
A Good One Shot for Newbies

Post by tiamat » Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:43 am

Hi,

I'm looking to run a one-shot (3-4 hours) for some new players and I am wondering what published scenarios people would recommend as a good introduction to the horror RPG genre and the Cthulhu Mythos?

Dr. Gerard
Professor
Professor
Posts:1353
Joined:Wed Jul 25, 2012 2:00 pm
Re: A Good One Shot for Newbies

Post by Dr. Gerard » Sat Sep 27, 2014 2:07 am

I like The Reeling Midnight, Ghosts of the Florentina, and Wasted Youth from MRP's Miskatonic Valley books.
Keeper of the Cthulhu Dark "Secret Everest Expedition" PbP scenario
Rip Wheeler in the Call of Cthulhu "No Man's Land" scenario
Plays for Keepers

trevlix
Investigator
Investigator
Posts:510
Joined:Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:58 am
Contact:
Re: A Good One Shot for Newbies

Post by trevlix » Tue Sep 30, 2014 3:21 pm

Crack'd & Crook'd Manse from Mansions of Madness is an awesome investigative/haunted house scenario.
Closed Casket from Secrets is good too, and would def be in that timeframe.
[Trafford: Insanity: 4, Exhaustion: 2]

http://keepingthegame.blogspot.com/

WiseWolf
Associate Professor
Posts:144
Joined:Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:12 am
Re: A Good One Shot for Newbies

Post by WiseWolf » Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:54 pm

I vote for Wasted Youth, I have ran it two times already as an introductory scenario. Works well. This is one of the first scenarios I ran in Skype of Cthulhu, I apologize in advance since I wasn't use to playing that early in the morning yet and I am not a morning person ,so my brain was running at half its speed.

http://www.cthulhu.me/search/label/Wasted%20Youth

Another great scenario is Dockside Dogs by P.F. We also have a recording, and we managed to play it in two hrs. It is good if people in your group enjoys Tarantino films and works great as an introduction with limited Mythos exposure.

http://www.cthulhu.me/2012/11/079-docks ... -shot.html

Another recommendation is Within you without you, I really liked this scenario. It is weird, with some basic investigation and exposure to the Mythos in a good way.

http://www.cthulhu.me/search/label/With ... hout%20You

And finally, King, from Cthulhu Britanica.

http://www.cthulhu.me/search/label/King

User avatar
Shannon Mac
Sponsor
Sponsor
Posts:547
Joined:Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:11 am
Location:Bay Area, California
Contact:
Re: A Good One Shot for Newbies

Post by Shannon Mac » Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:11 am

Keith "Doc" Herber's "Edge of Darkness" in the back of the 6E COC book. A classic clue trail with a haunted house to deal with a "demon". It has enough loose ends in it that an inspired Keeper could turn it into a miniseries/campaign. It is ideal for people totally new to COC.

I would second "Dockside Dogs" for a modern setting. I have run it ten times offline and online now. I expect to do more.

(WiseWolf): I'll check out some of the ones you mentioned. I believe I have a few of them already but have yet to read them.
My gaming blog with pretty pictures: http://www.storytellersjem.blogspot.com/

monkey prime
Sophmore
Sophmore
Posts:62
Joined:Fri Jun 14, 2013 2:43 pm
Re: A Good One Shot for Newbies

Post by monkey prime » Thu Oct 02, 2014 1:25 pm

I like the Shadows Over Scotland book from Cubicle 7's Cthulhu Britannica it has some great one-shots and the 3 adventures in Ripples Of Carcosa works across 3 time periods and work as one-shots or a mini-campaign

EddyPo
Sponsor
Sponsor
Posts:434
Joined:Fri Aug 31, 2012 4:40 pm
Location:Milwaukee
Contact:
Re: A Good One Shot for Newbies

Post by EddyPo » Thu Oct 02, 2014 3:47 pm

I always like to recommend anything from Blood Brothers and Blood Brothers 2. Great one-shots you can do in 4 hours or less. They are not Mythos based but rather based on familiar horror movie tropes which, I believe, makes it easy and fun for players. Personally, I've run Carnival Knowledge and Dead on Arrival and had a great time with both games.
Not a hack!

Thomas R. Knutsson
Sponsor
Sponsor
Posts:173
Joined:Wed Apr 03, 2013 3:58 pm
Location:Sweden/Sverige, Europe/Europa
Re: A Good One Shot for Newbies

Post by Thomas R. Knutsson » Thu Oct 02, 2014 6:28 pm

Strange Aeons 1&2 also have short one-shot scenarios all over the human history, including the future.
In the morning, mist comes up from the sea by the cliffs beyond Kingsport. White and feathery it comes from the deep to its brothers the clouds, full of dreams of dank pastures and caves of leviathan.
-"The Strange High House in the Mist" by HPL

Whisperer74
Freshman
Freshman
Posts:3
Joined:Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:25 pm
Re: A Good One Shot for Newbies

Post by Whisperer74 » Mon Oct 31, 2016 8:17 pm

If you join the Cult of Chaos through Chaosium, you can access a new thread of intro scenarios.

http://www.chaosium.com/join-the-cult-of-chaos/

I ran The Dead Boarder the other night and it went really well. With new player side banter and my not trying to railroad them too much into the suggested timeframe, it stretched out into an enjoyable couple of hours.

Post Reply